Letter: If only this tough talk were matched with meaningful action

Friday

Mar 21, 2014 at 10:00 AM

In response to the Russia's planned seizure of Crimea the president announced on March 17 that the U.S. sanctions would be "by far the most comprehensive applied to Russia since the end of the cold war." If only this tough talk were matched with meaningful action.

What were the sanctions? They consisted of freezing personal assets and barring granting visas to seven Russians and four Ukrainians. Putin shrugged off the sanctions and announced plans to formally absorb Crimea. Russian Prime Minister Rogozin ridiculed our government 's flaccid sanctions as drafted by "some prankster."

The Russian stock market rebounded since the sanctions were weaker than expected. Even Democratic Senator Chris Murphy opined Russia would not change its behavior "without a body blow to its economy." Our government needs to respond to Putin's imperialism by withdrawing from the new START treaty, lifting restrictions on exports of natural gas to our European allies, freeze the Russian government from the international banking system, target their energy (50 percent of revenue) and mineral companies, and freeze the assets of Putin's inner circle.

Until we impose crippling sanctions to Russia's energy and banking system, further aggression into Ukraine and the Baltic states is likely.